France: a crypto trader removed and tortured for its Wallet Ledger

The mirages of decentralized finance had forgotten a brutal reality: the key can become a padlock. Tuesday morning, in the apparent calm of Maisons-Alfort (France), a 23-year-old young man disappears in broad daylight. A banal scene – a couple goes shopping – turns in hostage. In this quiet suburbs, the border between reality and digital is erased, giving way to a barely believable nightmare. What if you put your phone, just a minute, to dive into the story that all the crypto carriers fear?

Crypto: predators strike with open face

Even if the alleged brain of kidnappings linked to cryptos in France has been arrested, criminal mechanics does not seem to want to stop. Here is another story: it is 10 am on Tuesday. A young couple hit the road for a few shopping. She goes down to shop, he is looking for a place. A few minutes pass. Nothing. Silence. Then a message: a so-called professional unforeseen. She returns, worried. His phone vibrates. A visio opens. But it's not him on the screen. A stranger orders, coldly: Place a Ledger key, its private key, and 5,000 euros in cash in a bag. And quickly. Man is informed, precise. He knows what he wants. It is not a request: it is a summons.

According to a police source relayed in The Parisian” LA violence was used to make it speak ». The attacker was not alone: The scene is running, orchestrated. A third person collects the bag. The young man is released in Créteil a few hours laterwithout knowing if the contents of the key has been emptied.

This scenario is no exception: it is The 10th attack of this type in France in 2025. They are called “wren attack”: those where no password is resistant to a keystone or punch. Jameson LOPP, recognized expert and co -founder of Casa, claims to have identified 232 cases of physical assaults against crypto carriers since 2014.

France: a outbreak of disturbing attacks

This drama is only The emerged part of an iceberg More and more worrying. Since January, 25 people, including six minors, were indicted For kidnappings linked to crypto in the Paris region. And the profiles of the victims change.

After Pierre NOIZAT, Paymium co -founderwhose daughter and grandson almost were removed, it is the turn of David Balland, co -founder of Ledgerto have been attacked at home. Crypto-rich no longer need to expose themselves: sometimes a simple mention on the networks is enough to attract looks.

Key data to remember:

• 32 aggressions linked to the crypto identified worldwide in 2025;
• 10 in France, a third of world cases;
• 25 people indicted in connection with these acts;
• 6 minors involved, often used as performers;
• 232 attacks since 2014 according to Jameson LOPP.

For Éric Larchevêque, founder of Ledger:

These problems exceed cryptoactives. They concern all entrepreneurs.

It is no longer a simple digital risk, but A tangible, brutal, physical reality. The criminals no longer hide. They organize themselves. They prowl.

Minister Bruno Retailleau had promised meetings with the sector leaders to ” secure ecosystem ». Arrests have been made, as shown in the latest operations relayed in the press. However, in the field, nothing changes. The attackers continue to prowl, methodical, indifferent to “continuous” arrests. The promises are linked, the signatures too. But fear does not sign anything. She settles down. Behind the closed doors of the ministries, security is written in invisible ink, while in the street, it pays cash – sometimes at the cost of a ledger key.